Announcement

Verizon's 4G LTE network hit the 500 market milestone yesterday, and today the carrier has revealed that its first round of 4G LTE-only smartphones will be arriving late next year. The information comes from Verizon's Chief Network Officer Nicki Palmer, who spoke in a conference call earlier with a promise that "[Verizon] will get this right. Our brand is built on reliability."

At today's D11 conference, Motorola's Dennis Woodside talked about the company's ambitious plans to reinvent itself via the launch of a handful of smartphones, starting with a "hero" device called the Moto X. Such a device will be contextually-aware of its surroundings via low-powered sensors, enabling it to respond in ways that Woodside says isn't available on current smartphone offerings.

It has been a long time coming, but Nuance has finally released Swype on Google Play, doing so with a special low price and a free trial option. This is in addition to the app being updated with a couple new keyboards and a few new features and improvements. For a limited time, users can grab Swype for $0.99, with the price later on increasing to a yet-unspecified rate.

Team Zuckerberg and company are moving along pretty fast this afternoon. Announcing their new take on Android and tons of other interesting new features and ideas. One in particular that will be extremely important is communication. To solve the problem of texts, Facebook messages and more all being fragmented - meet Chat Heads.

It's finally here! The Samsung GALAXY S 4 has arrived to smash the rumors and is poised to take on the competition, from whoever it may be. Live in New York City at Music City Hall Samsung has just unveiled their "Life Companion" to the world - and it's a stunner. Samsung's wrapped top-tier hardware into a familiar chassis, and gave it a boost across the board. From a stellar 8-core processor, a larger full 1080p HD display, and what surely will be an impressive 13 megapixel camera. Coming to a carrier near you in Q2.

It has been an eventful day for Google, starting off with an announcement that Andy Rubin, who has been a big part of the Android movement, will be leaving. Now another wave of changes have been announced - Google Reader will be retired on July 1st due to what has been a steady drop in usage. Likewise, several other Google services will also be shutting down.

NVIDIA and ZTE have announced that the world's about to get its first Tegra 4 Super Phone, which will be from none other than ZTE itself. The Chinese maker of increasingly higher-spec'd phones will be releasing the Super Phone by summer this year. There's no other information - nothing about its name, its price, or its specs.

HTC has announced the Desire U Android smartphone in Taiwan, and while the specs aren't the best out there, the price is certainly right at $275 USD. With a 4-inch display, Beats Audio, and micro-drilled rear cover art, the device certainly seems promising. Check out its specs and images after the jump to decide for yourself.
Inside, users will find a decent 1GHz processor, although its product page doesn't specify more than that. There's a low 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage space, as well as a microSD expansion slot in case the internal storage isn't enough for your needs. Likewise, there is a microUSB 2.0 connectivity port.
Connectivity includes Bluetooth 4.0 (aptX enabled), as well as your standard 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. There's a 5-megapixel camera around back with an LED flash and autofocus. Maximum image resolution is the same as the display - WVGA (800 x 480). The battery is only 1,650mAh, meaning users will probably be charging it more often than they like.
The Desire U runs Android with HTC Sense, although the version wasn't specified. There's GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz and HSPA/WCDMA 900/2100 MHz. While none of the specs are mind-blowing, this appears to be a solid mid-range handset for those wanting a combination of powerful enough hardware and a budget-friendly price.
[gallery]
[via HTC]

Samsung's Galaxy Premier I9260 smartphone has been rumored for a while. Samsung has finally pulled the veil off the phone and made it official. The LTE smartphone is coming, and it looks like the Ukraine is going to be one of the first places to receive the device. It will hit the market next month.

If you've been waiting through all the rumors of LG's newest flagship smartphone, today you're in luck. LG has officially announced and detailed their impressive new Optimus G smartphone complete with "groundbreaking features" and tons of improvements to their user interface. They're inviting users to live without boundaries thanks to the phones brilliant display and enhanced features. Lets take a look.